Rita goes Roxie in her Broadway debut

“A lot of times when people come in, they’re a little afraid to go the distance and just be big so that we can pull them down. Rita’s not afraid of that. She’s not afraid to make a mistake.”

Of course, Wilson also did her homework. Besides consulting with Hanks, she took advantage of her extensive Rolodex, calling up friends Melanie Griffith and Brooke Shields, who both appeared in the Broadway version as Roxie.

“Brooke was funny. She said, ‘You’re going to have days where you’re going to be standing on a corner and you’re going to be thinking, “Maybe that taxi will accidentally hit me and break my knee and I won’t have to do the show.” You’ll be wishing for those days and then you find that you get up there and you’re doing it and you’re getting through it,”’ she recalls.

“And Melanie said it’s the best thing that she’d ever done and I should absolutely do it,” Wilson says. “She was incredible about it. We both come from film and I’ve known Melanie since we were both 17 years old, so she was very honest. ... They both said to do it because it’s an amazing experience.”

Those unfamiliar with Wilson’s background may be a little surprised that she can sing and dance. The 47-year-old is more famous for her acting, with such credits as “Sleepless in Seattle,” “That Thing You Do,” “Jingle All the Way” and “Runaway Bride.” She also produced “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

But Wilson also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before marrying Hanks in 1988.

“It’s not so out of the realm of things that I’ve done in terms of my life and in terms of comedy or personality. I mean, I’m not singing ‘Carmen’ or anything like that,” she says.

“The truth is if I didn’t have some background in singing or some movement background, I don’t think I would have thought about doing it. I’m not stupid. I can tell when something is really, really hard and you’re not going to put yourself in a position where you’re going to look like an idiot.”

During an interview at a chic Manhattan cafe, Wilson downs multiple espressos, yet the excitement she radiates is palpable, in contrast to her oldest son with Hanks, 15-year-old Chester, who is curled on a bench, exhausted by keeping up with his mother’s new late-night schedule.

Figuring out Fosse
Though the role of Roxie is physically demanding, Wilson laughs when she recalls finding out that virtually every Bob Fosse dance step has been carefully archived and given a specific name.

“Nothing is accidental. Not one head nod. Not one head tilt. Not one hand angle. That was so amazing to me. I was in shock,” she says. “Now they talk to me in code. They’ll say, ‘All right, after you do the Judy Garland but before you get into the Eddie Cantors, don’t forget that you have to do the Chaplin.”’

No wonder Wilson is enjoying her time on Broadway — she gets to play a sexy role as well as rub shoulders with veteran actresses like Christine Ebersole, Andrea Martin, Kate Burton, Cherry Jones and Beth Leavel.

“I do think that the New York community is just much more accepting,” she says. “They write more interesting things for women. Age doesn’t seem to be the same thing as it is in film.”

And if “Chicago” happens to destroy some preconceptions about Wilson along the way, so be it. “I don’t care what anybody thinks or what anybody says — this is it. I’m not trying to prove anything.”

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